10 Short Films About Volvo’s EV

When an automaker decides to bring an electric vehicle to market, engineers spend years developing everything from the battery pack to the motor to the exterior styling. But the work doesn't stop there. Once it has a car, the manufacturer must prove it is safe, reliable and user-friendly.

Volvo has shared a behind-the-scenes look at what it is doing to test, analyze and hone the C30 Electric. It's similar to what General Motors, Nissan and others have gone through bringing the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf and other cars with cords to market — minus the snowy roads and cool Swedish streetscapes, of course.

The C30 Electric is, as the name suggests, an electric version of the C30 hatchback. But converting an existing model isn't as easy as some might think. Volvo says it assembled a team of 100 engineers and other specialists for the research and development program, an effort it says was as comprehensive as developing a new vehicle from scratch.

The first video provides an overview of the car, with lots of detail shots and an annoying soundtrack.

Research, Research, Research

Simulations and equations are all well and good, but what happens to an EV's battery when the rubber hits the road? There's only one way to find out. That's why Volvo is gathering data on how the C30's battery holds up in real-world driving situations. The work is in conjunction with Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology, and so far has examined how the C30's batteries react to cold weather and rapid charges and discharges.

Fleet Management

Volvo will begin extensive real-world testing a fleet of 50 C30 Electrics beginning this fall. In addition to collecting "soft" data — anecdotes and case studies of what drivers liked and disliked about the vehicles — Volvo is using fleet management software to track how the drivers of these test program vehicles use the cars and how the cars respond to everyday situations.

Volvo says it will build at least 250 C30 Electrics by the end of next year — and "possibly more if market interest takes off" — and deliver them to customers throughout Europe. Most of those cars are slated for municipal fleets and the like.

Testing, Testing, Testing

When building a new car, especially one using a novel drivetrain, one of the highest priorities is proving the vehicle will be safe and reliable. This is doubly important when your brand is built on the promise of safety. Volvo engineers not only had to test the C30 Electric for serviceability and durability, but also design the tests used to establish those benchmarks because the company had never before built an EV.

Safety Is Job One

Automakers take safety seriously, as do federal regulators who want to ensure electric vehicles are as safe as a conventional automobile. Volvo prides itself on its record of safety and innovation. To that end, the automaker has said the C30 must be as safe as every other car in its lineup.

One of the top priorities was finding the safest possible location for the car's 24-kilowatt-hour battery pack, which weighs 660 pounds. It is mounted in the center tunnel where the fuel tank is found in the conventional C30. The battery is “robustly encapsulated,’ according to Volvo, and the body structure reinforced.

The 82-kilowatt (111-horsepower) electric motor is under the bonnet where the engine would be. All of the cables are shielded, and crash sensors control the system's fuses. The same signal that deploys the airbags cuts power to the drivetrain in 50 milliseconds, according to Volvo.

Staying Warm, Keeping Cool

Designing a heating and cooling system for an electric vehicle is a challenge, because the battery that powers the car must also power the climate control system.

Volvo has designed three heating and cooling systems for the C30 Electric. One heats and cools the battery. One cools the motor and electronics. The third heats and cools the passenger cabin.

Heating the cabin sucks down a lot of energy, so Volvo came up with a novel solution. The cabin can be warmed using a bio-ethanol heater; the car carries 14.5 liters of fuel for the heater. Of course, you can also use the battery to power the heater.

Software Development

Electric vehicles are as much about software as hardware. Case in point: The Chevrolet Volt has more than 10 million lines of code, which is more than the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. All that code is needed to ensure the battery, motor, controller and other systems work seamlessly. Volvo's software engineers integrated 30 systems through a single electrical vehicle module (EVM), which controls safety, engine management and drivability.

Power Up

The Volvo C30 Electric features a liquid-cooled synchronous permanent magnet electric motor good for 82 kilowatts, or about 111 horsepower. It's mounted under the hood where the engine in the C30 is located. The car isn't terribly fast; the C30 Electric needs 6 seconds to reach 70 kilometers per hour (43 mph) and top speed is limited to 80 mph.

The C30 Electric is built on the regular assembly line at Volvo's factory in Ghent, Belgium, then transported to Göteborg, Sweden for installation of the motor, batteries and related electronics.

Electrical Architecture

The C30 Electric is essentially a converted C30, which isn't terribly unusual. Mitsubishi and Ford are among others offering electric versions of existing models. But swapping one drivetrain for an entirely different drivetrain requires ensuring everything will fit and everything will work.

Battery Included

Like every other EV coming down the pike, the Volvo C30 Electric uses a lithium-ion battery. The pack was developed with EnerDel.

Volvo fitted the C30 with a 24-kilowatt-hour pack; of that, 22.7 kWh is used to power the car. The pack is good for 150 kilometers (about 93 miles) and takes less than eight hours to charge. Regenerative braking sends some power back to the pack while slowing the car, a move that also Volvo to use aluminum brake rotors at the rear of the car. The automaker says that saves weight without impacting braking because the rotors are used less often with regen.

Optimal battery placement has allowed Volvo to build the C30 Electric with nearly a 50/50 weight distribution over the front and rear wheels, which improves handling.